Variable and dynamic simulation of weather conditions can be used to add variety, atmosphere (a rainy day in an RPG) and/or challenge (rain on the racetrack in a driving game) to a game.
Rainy Balmora. A Big rain classic !Alright, heres a question I hope you dont see everyday. Which game, out of all games ever to include rain, has the most atmospheric raineffects? Now, Im not talking about the gameplay wise, BEST raineffects, i.e the best included wet track in a racing game. No, Im talking about the atmosphere, where the rain heightens the atmosphere of the game to levels otherwise impossible. Let me give you a couple of examples to get you started. First off I have to meantion Morrowind and Oblivion. Both of these games simulate the effect of random afternoon rain better than no other game. The feeling of your clothes getting wet and the pure smell of rain really gets through to you as a player when you´re traversing a small forest road or exploring a small fishing village. Both the sound and the actual weathereffect is brilliant in both games and includes everything from a couple of light drops to a full thunderstorm. Morrowind in particular is stuck in my memory as a big wow moment when the first The rainy Zelda introduction. Masterful !rain started to fall, where you could see every drop land on the water and see the light grey fog sweep over the land together with heavy clouds. Another example that has to be brought up is the introduction to A Link to the Past where you wake up and can actually hear the rain pouring down on your house, and even tho it was only on the SNES it really sounded like rain, there was no doubt it was raining outside. And when you step outside to make your way to the caste the best looking rain on the SNES accompany you together with superb lighting and sound. That introduction would not have been one of the best ever if it wasnt for the rain. Now, lets talk rain! And no Mortal Kombat references are allowed ;)
I realize this post might not make any sense at all gramatically but I am hella tired. That said, I can't but agree about the morrowind stuff.
Very well made. I also remember the first time it started to rain in Morrowind. Quite the mood setter. Only problem was that the rain drops, while able to produce ripples on water, left no marks on solid ground. But for atmosphere? Morrowind. No question about it.
"I thought the GTA4 storm was pretty amazing actually."
Yeah, those storms are amazing. Oblivion's were quite nice too, but while the sky looked really nice, the rest all seemed a bit flat on the screen, IIRC.
"I thought the GTA4 storm was pretty amazing actually."
Yeah, those storms are amazing. Oblivion's were quite nice too, but while the sky looked really nice, the rest all seemed a bit flat on the screen, IIRC."
It's the sound that does for me in Oblivion. You can actually hear the raindrops pelting the foliage in the area. Really brilliant sound design, though I think the thunder in Morrowind was a bit more, well, thunderous.
"I had a pretty cool rain moment in GTA4. I was playing in HD and it was at night and there was lightning and it was just so awesome."
I <3 Grand Theft Auto IV. I don't even care about the negativity it gets on these forums. And the reason you listed is one of the very reasons I love -- I get totally, utterly immersed in it.
"I thought the GTA4 storm was pretty amazing actually."
Yeah, those storms are amazing. Oblivion's were quite nice too, but while the sky looked really nice, the rest all seemed a bit flat on the screen, IIRC."
It's the sound that does for me in Oblivion. You can actually hear the raindrops pelting the foliage in the area. Really brilliant sound design, though I think the thunder in Morrowind was a bit more, well, thunderous. "
Yes. That was one thing I remember really liking about that. One time I was doing something by a lake and the sound of it splashing was great. Like you mention about GTA IV, it's little things like that which really hekp build a nice level of immersion and atmosphere.
It's funny that people go on and on about how amazing Crysis looks, forgetting all about the PGR series. PGR = Photorealistic Game Roar.
Sir_Ragnarok said:
"HandsomeDead said:
"get2sammyb said:
"I thought the GTA4 storm was pretty amazing actually."
Yeah, those storms are amazing. Oblivion's were quite nice too, but while the sky looked really nice, the rest all seemed a bit flat on the screen, IIRC."
It's the sound that does for me in Oblivion. You can actually hear the raindrops pelting the foliage in the area. Really brilliant sound design, though I think the thunder in Morrowind was a bit more, well, thunderous. "
I think on both the visual and audio side, Oblivion nailed the weather effects, simply because of the upgraded engine. But I do think that Morrowind's weather was much more atmospheric. As Sir_Rag. said, the thunder was a bit more thunderous. When there was a sandstorm, you had to get the fuck inside because there was no way you were going to get from point A to point B. Blizzards in Solstheim? Nope, snow day kids! Monsoons in the south? GTFO!
Oblivion is a beautiful game, and better in my opinion, but Morrowind managed to capture what it meant to have a real hell-raising storm on your hands. Although, that may just be because of Vvardenfel's inclement whether, whereas Cyrodiil is a more peaceful (weather-wise) province. That may sound like an excuse, but Bethesda jumps through every hoop when it comes to immersion and story telling.
Red Dead Redemption is the best by far. The thunder trumps any other game out there. It still doesn't hold a candle to the actual Texas storms, but they definitely tried. I hope creeks fill up and tornadoes spawn in the next one.
There's also Stalker. Having a gunfight outside in complete darkness with ONLY the muzzle flashes and lightning making your enemies visible is an incredible experience. Especially when a pack of Boars comes roaming through the battlefield, with only their eyes glowing between flashes.
Even if it's a somewhat easy pick, I'd go with Heavy Rain. I really felt the mood that accompanies rain while I played that game.
Oh, and I'm one of those people who loves it when it rains. I actually feel rejuvenated when it starts raining, and Heavy Rain was the only game I've played that captured that.
" RDR..the thunderstorms on my 7.1 system were amazing. "
Can you believe they still didn't use the subwoofer channel in that game at all? That was all bass downmixed from the 4 channels, not even counting the center one.
I really liked the rain in Heavy Rain as well, even just when it comes up to the logo being rained on it looks fantastic. Red Dead Redemption looks amazing too when it comes to rain effects, especially how the sky looks when it rains. Also Red Dead holds a special place because i was doing that mission where the drunk tries to sell his woman to you, so you buy her and she goes off to a covenant, and then you find out he came back and took her away. I was at the part where you learn he killed her and it was during a downpour. So the dual started up and i had rain just dripping down the other characters and as i shot the guy lightning flashed and thunder boomed. It was just...a perfect moment in that game.
I'm absolute in love with the effect that Stalker: CoP's rain has on how you play the game. The darkness makes everything so eerie that I often just hoof it to the nearest settlement to get some sleep until it goes away. As far as sound goes, I'm still impressed by how incredible the sound is in Oblivion when you walk outside and it's absolutely pouring.
That being said, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is my favorite purely because I still remember how low my jaw dropped when I saw what the rain would do to the characters. It's the first game I remember that made me really believe something was wet.
When I think about the question, I don't think about which represented the best looking rain in a game, but which game that had parts that rained in it that made you feel something. And, the only two I can think of are MW2 when DC goes dark, and Oblivion.
" RDR..the thunderstorms on my 7.1 system were amazing. "
Can you believe they still didn't use the subwoofer channel in that game at all? That was all bass downmixed from the 4 channels, not even counting the center one. "
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